It's finally completed!!!

Today i finally completed a quilt i had begun work on years ago!!!

I started the piecing of this quilt way back in end January of 2013, and completed it by mid March 2013. I then lived at Vizag. I was very new to the world of piecing and quilting. Somewhere on the world wide web i had chanced on a maple leaf quilt, and it struck me...i loved it for many reasons.....it used HSTs, about the only technical term i knew at that time....i love nature especially trees.....pictures of fallen maple leaves and their hues have always fascinated me. This was a perfect combination!

The fabric selection was easy. I used to sew my clothes so i had lots of left over coloured fabric of every hue and print. In June 2012, i had picked up a fabric set for  'salwar kameez'. These are always colour coordinated, and, to my advantage, it was in shades of green!!! Perfecto!!!!!

Then began the designing of the quilt top and it came very easily. I decided to design it in four quadrants, with the leaves moving away from the centre. Then came the cutting....it was those days when i didn't have either a rotary cutter or a cutting mat. So i just drew out the lines on the back of the fabric and used the scissors to cut them out. Now i wonder how did i ever manage to cut so many pieces out! I remember by right shoulder hurting me a lot. 

I have been a big time Tupperware collector....so i picked up some containers which were new and decided to use them to sort and store the different pieces. The BG indicated background and LF indicated leaf.

This is the completed pieced top. If you notice the quadrants are alternated in terms of the background fabric and the sashing. I did this to break the monotony. 

I was mighty thrilled with the outcome. I had no idea what the quilting would be like. I loved that it was looking like how i had pictured it to be...... it was so colourful...and above all, it reminded me of so many of my outfits!!!

I then relocated to Mumbai in early April. The quilt top was packed away carefully in a trunk and that's where it stayed for months. One day i decided to pull it out and start work on it. I got thin flannel for the batting (ideal for the tropical climate), and cotton fabric in chrome and green for the backing. I hand quilted 'stitch in the ditch' around each maple leaf. I finished it all......but did not like it. So...what happened next??? It got folded neatly and again put away in the trunk!!!

Sometime in mid 2014, i decided to take it out again. Before the rotary cutter, the quilting ruler and the cutting mat found their way into the house, i used the large set squares. These had some nicely shaped slots in them. Do you see them on the right? These were put to good use. I had a blast tracing the shapes onto the quilt top. Then came the quilting....black was the colour of choice. I used a regular embroidery hoop and used it to quilt almost half the quilt. That's when i decided to invest in a quilting hoop. Amazon delivered the 14" hoop and....it surely made my hand quilting journey so much easier. 

I finished the hand quilting last month and today was when i completed the binding. I love the feel of the quilt.....the look, the colours, the quilting, the softness. It seems to have a certain old world charm to it. 

This quilt will always be special to me. Here are some pictures of the finished quilt.

The maple leaves were placed randomly and move away from the centre. The quilting is not very visible in this picture.

It was a little shorter than i had wanted, so i added a six inch wide fabric on both the sides.  












Below is a close up of the quilting design which was used to demarcate the four quadrants. A separate one was used on the sashing around the leaves. 

The above picture shows how the background fabric and the sashing were alternated for the quadrants to break the monotony. 

The backing is extra special.....the two colours used and the way the quilting adds character to it.  

The quilting on the sashing around the maple leaves.

And yes.....forgot to mention earlier.....i opened out the earlier quilting around the maple leaves....that took up so much time in itself. 

The front, the back, the quilting, the binding..........each one of these goes a long away in adding to the character of this quilt!

My first ever attempt at piecing.........

It was January 2012. I was then living in Bombay.  I'd gone to visit a fried 'D' in the evening to chit chat over tea. 'D' wanted to show me few of her drawings which were kept in her children's room. That was when i saw a stunning quilt on the bed! I spent 10 odd  minutes, talking to her about the process. Back home what i saw at 'D's' place, literally haunted me. 'D' had shown me a quilt made of hearts. I couldn't sleep.

It never struck me that i could surf the net! I took a piece of paper, cut out shapes and figured out a way to make the hearts. I took some of the fabric scraps i had, cut them, sewed them together and presto, i had a heart shape!!!! That was sweet victory and the beginning of my love for piecing! What a coincidence that my love for piecing and now quilting began with the heart shape :) I then took an old square lined book, drew and coloured what it would look like and calculated the number of pieces and sizes of fabric i would need. This is how my blue print looked. 

The next day was a day with a spring in my feet. I went fabric shopping, located a shop close by (which i now frequent), found a lovely print in three different colours, found some coordinating fabric and got home, purposefully.

Out came my scissors, the regular one foot ruler and a pencil. I decided on the size i wanted, can you ever imagine what it was???? It was a humongous 100" X 120"!!!! That surely was being over ambitious. Over the next two weeks i drew lines and slowly, painfully cut pieces, endless pieces - 162 floral print  31/4" X 6" pieces,324 yellow-white dotted 2" X 2" pieces, 162 yellow-white dotted 31/4" X 31/4" pieces, 100 pink-yellow floral print 21/2" X 21/2" pieces, 180 green coloured 21/2" X 6" pieces. Every bone in my shoulders,my arm and my hand hurt, my right thumb the most, because of the scissors. 

Then started the marathon sewing. 

It looked wonderful as it came together. But, somewhere along the way, i just gave up. It's now a UFO - in quilting parlance - Un Finished Object. Every now and then i take it out, admire it and promise to myself that i will complete it. This is how it looks, isn't it stunning??!!

I cannot let this remain a UFO, i have to complete it. I owe it to myself, to the fact that it was my first ever piecing project, to the fact that i patiently toiled and painfully drew out endless lines and cut pieces and pieces. 

I have kept this year as one of completing all my projects. I hope i do.....................

A name quilt (comforter) - Happy Birthday Ankit

Yes, this is not a quilt, it's a comforter, made way back in September 2012 for my son's 14th birthday. And, why is it not a quilt? That's because, it's not quilted. Way back then i was quilting illiterate. To me, putting pieces of fabric together, having a batting and a backing meant it was a quilt. It was only once i joined the quilting group desiquilters that i really understood what quilting means. Believe you me, quilting sure does add a whole new dimension to the patch worked or pieced top. 

This, like my other projects was a fun and exciting one, it was a surprise, it was for my son and it involved everything about him. Together with my husband we decided on the words which meant the most to Ankit. I then decided to applique each alphabet of the words onto square fabrics which were in two colours - white and lemon yellow. To ensure that the words were identifiable, i decided to have each of the words in a different fabric. The appliqueing exercise was done every morning after Ankit left home and i had finished preparing lunch. That was the only way i could keep it a secret. 

This is how the comforter looks. It's fairly big at 90" X 100". 

And what did i applique on them. There's Ankit (his name), there's Nagar (his surname and what he's called in his football circle), there's football (his life), there's Gerrard (his favourite player for years on end now), there's Liverpool (the club he supports, but obviously!), there's Red Phoenix (the football club he started 5 years back), there's Cleo (our doggy). I also added a pocket of his school shirt. 







For the binding, i tried strip pieced binding using the fabrics which were used for the words. Since there were four empty blocks, i randomly added patches of the same word fabrics. 




I started appliqueing the letters in mid August 2012. We were then stationed in Vizag. It is said that when your intentions are noble, you will accomplish what you've set out to do. I finished appliqueing all the letters on the 5th of September. Sat through the night of 6th September and on 7th September when he returned from school, the comforter was waiting for him. 

He was happily surprised and thrilled that it had everything that mattered to him on it. Did he ever get a whiff of what was sewing? He saw a few individual letters, but never guessed. He did ask me on 6th night what i was up to. Saying that it was for a friend's daughter was an answer that he accepted. 

One always wants to do that something special for their child. One also wants it to be different. As they grow, they have their own tastes, likes and dislikes. How does one keep the excitement and surprise element going? I found this to be the one. I loved every second i spent putting it together. Cutting the letter templates, appliqueing them in the neatest possible way, hiding the letter patches!!! With each passing day,my excitement levels rose. It was a wonderful journey from start to finish to giving, just like it's been a wonderful journey of mothering Ankit!!

After really long - yet again!!!

A lot has changed since i last blogged, a) I've moved houses, from one end of the city to the other and, b) have started working full time. Both these have affected my quilting big time. 

I had a few fabric stores i would visit regularly, the store owners knew my taste, they let me rummage through their store, they let me lay everything out to figure what went with what, what didn't, they even helped me coordinate on many occasions. They remembered what i had picked up. I'm yet to find a store close to where i now reside. 

Morning hours were my 'me' time, which is to say my quilting time. I could spend hours sewing, stitching, cutting, ironing. Now my morning hours are about leaving the house on time to get to work. Sewing time if any is either on holidays or stolen minutes during the weekdays. My sewing & cutting is now at night. There are these days when i have marathon sessions late into the night and wake up all groggy the following morning.

But i've managed to put together quite a few pieces. Many are still WIPs though. Have been nominated by a fellow quilter for the quilt blog hop. It couldn't have come at a better time, i now just have to update 'a fabric medley'. So, thank you Sobana Sundar for nominating me. While i start the updating process, why don't you have a look at Sobana's blog here. 

Brocade braid across the table

I seem to be falling in love with the stunning effect of brocade. Although a not so easy fabric to work with, fraying ends, pulling weaves, the end result more than makes up for the arduous journey of piecing it all together!

Post my work with the churn dash cushion covers, i decided to make a table runner with brocade. The pattern i chose was the braided herringbone. A lovely pattern indeed. I first saw this pattern first hand on a quilt when Manju a fellow DQ had come to Bombay. She used this pattern as a border for her Bargello quilt. Thank you Manju! You in a way introduced me to the braided herringbone :) 

So the journey began with a whole lot of excitement! I first gathered all the brocade fabrics i had, cut them into 3.5 inches strips and went sew, sew sew!! You know, unlike the other patters i've done so far, i realized that with this i could actually 'feel' that i was progressing!! Then came the ironing the top part. Was very scared if i'd burn it. Played safe, really safe. Low temperature, lot's of water in the iron, and gradually increased the temperature.............just why was i so nervous!!!

I also ironed on press canvas to the backing fabric which is plain 'kora' cloth. This has given the table runner a little stiffness. Used my regular batting.

This is  a closer view

Didn't know how to quilt it without spoiling the look of the strips - you know the quilting turning out to be like a sore to the eye!! Decided to go with the safest option - along the seams! 

Blue and golden churn dashes

While surfing and learning about quilting (which is an everyday affair !), i decided to learn about the different blocks. That's when i first saw the churn dash block and read about its history. Do read it in the link. It's fascinating! 

I like the simple design. There's something about it which i find very appealing. So i just had to try it out. I first made a table runner a few months back (will post pictures soon). Recently i decided to use the block for cushion covers. The fabric i used was brocade. Had this blue and gold brocade and when i decided to combine it with a golden fabric, it looked so royal!!! 

I just had to quilt them. Something seemed amiss without the quilting. The back is an overlap of the same fabrics, with a velcro strip for fastening. 

Was pretty pleased with the end products............

I made two cushion covers, both complementing each other. That way they are similar yet not identical.

This is how the back looks

This is a picture of the two cushion covers together - don't they complement each other just right? 

A fabric medley...........

It's been so very long since i last posted. In fact, over a year!!!

Lot's has happened in the meantime. My family and i have moved cities and most important of all, i've gotten hooked onto quilting!!!

My inspiration is the quilting group i'm part of. It's called desiquilters. You can see more of this group on their blog. This is an absolutely phenomenal group comprising of even more phenomenal people! I've learnt so so much from this group and continue to do so. Every day, and i truly mean every day, brings a plethora of learnings, insights and inspirations. We are a wonderful quilting community and we believe in sharing and learning and growing as quilters. While you might be thinking that we are a small group - hold your breath - we are now 700 member strong and growing by the day!!!

My days are filled with thoughts of fabrics. My shopping is with a single thing in mind - fabrics and more fabrics, my net surfing is with a single focus - quilts, tutorials. I even dream of fabrics and projects! Guess i can now call myself to be addicted to the art form of quilting. I have always enjoyed creating with my hands, but this seems to be different. The possibilities are endless, the canvas without boundaries, the learning curve never reaching it's peak. This is what has had me so hooked on to it.

Recently, while playing with all the fabrics, while arranging and rearranging them is when i had this 'light bulb' moment and decided to rename my blog 'a fabric medley' and also call my creations that. I also hope to be more regular with my blog. Have finished quite a few projects over the last year. My first aim is to put up details and pictures of all those. Between sewing and computer time, i prefer the former!! Hope i can overcome that temptation when it comes to blogging.